Spin
This
(Jazz
Review Magazine)
From
the percussion and bass reed version of the Monk/Ferro song
It’s Over Now (Well, You Needn’t) and her groove
enriched version of the Rogers and Hammerstein classic My
Favorite Things, to the her sultry delivery of the
Arnold/Walter classic You Don’t Know me, San Francisco
jazz scene favorite Karen Blixt delivers a delightfully
entertaining and powerful piece of work with her debut CD Spin
This.
Together
with producer Frank Martin and a who’s who cast of musicians, Spin
This brings new life to ten contemporary and classic
standards; and she emerges as a talented songwriter in the three
Martin-Blixt originals: Spin This, Kitchen Blues
(where she at times reminds me of Laura Fygi) and the closing
track Something So True. Karen effortlessly changes moods
and direction – nowhere better demonstrated than on the Cole
Porter classic Night and Day
-- consistently maintaining a distinct sound signature
all her own.
Growing
up in upstate New York singing church hymns, Karen says, “I grew
up in a world of black and white,” and “always singing off the
melody.” She gravitated to the way jazz “thrives in the
unsettled way where asking the question is more important than
being certain of the answer.” It is in this gray area of taking
risk, not knowing if she is right or wrong that both she and her
music live. “With jazz, it’s not about you deciding how to
perform the song – it’s about the song finding its own life
through you,” she says.
Karen
settled in northern California and has been a staple in the Bay
Area jazz scene for ten years. She has performed with Bobby
McFerrin on his score for the Academy Award -winning film Common
Threads, and she is now a star whose time has arrived. Spin
This is her calling card.
Producer:
Frank Martin Musicians:
Karen Blixt (vocals), Frank Martin (piano, Fender Rhodes,
arrangements, production), Joey DeFransesco (Hammond B-3 organ,
vocals), Russell Ferrante (piano), Alex Acuńa (percussion,
drums), Buddy Montgomery (vibes), Sheldon Brown (reeds), Paul
McCandless (reeds), Bruce Forman (guitar), Joe Hebert (cello),
Brian Bromberg (bass), Troy Lampkins (electric bass), Derek Oles
(bass) Byron Landham (drums), Will Kennedy (drums)
Label:
http://www.hiflirecords.com
Artist http://www.karenblixt.com
SONGS:
Swingin' The Blues, Carefully
Taught, My Favorite Things, You Don't Know Me, Night and Day, Spin
This, It's Over Now (Well, You Needn't), Now It's Over, When
You're Smiling, Kitchen Blue, Four, I Thought About You, Something
So True
Copyright
2006 - Brie Austin - All rights reserved
